How to Successfully Avoid the Infamous Freshman 15 ...

1. Try Clean Eating

Rather than eat a ton of junk food during your first semester of college and then spend the next three and a half years trying to change your diet and workout, change your diet from the start! It may not be one of the most fun ways to avoid the Freshman 15, but it is one of the most effective! Try clean eating before you move, or when you get to college. It might not always be easy in your cafeteria, but you just may be surprised with the organic and natural choices your school offers!

2. Intensify Your Workout

One of the biggest culprits of the Freshman 15 is the change in workout. Chances are that you’ve spent the last five or ten years playing a sport that you love, but that’s ended now that you’re in college. If you go to a big school, you may want to tell yourself that walking around campus will substitute as exercise, but don’t. Sure, walking is good exercise, but if you want to combat the Freshman 15, intensify your workout. Join a gym, a sports club or anything else that will get you active often.

3. Take a Night off

The Freshman 15 also tends to come from partying and late nights. Whether you’re out at a club every weekend, or you’ve simply made 2 am pizzas a Friday night ritual, take a night off once a week. You may feel like you’re missing out on possible friendships, but your body will thank you.

4. Change Your Schedule

Eating schedules can be very strange in college. Chances are that at least one of your classes is scheduled around a major meal, which leads you to wait hours to eat before gorging on food you wouldn’t have wanted had you eaten earlier. Rather than stick with the typical three meals a day, eat five smaller meals a day. Not only will it encourage weight loss, but you’ll feel healthier, and you won’t go hungry as often!

5. Don’t Skip Meals

Skipping meals can be super easy in college, especially if your classes are scheduled for times you usually eat. Skipping meals can just lead to gorging later on, so just avoid the concept altogether. You may think that you’re helping your body, especially if you think it will aid to weight loss, but you’re really only hurting yourself.

6. Be Careful in the Cafeteria

Without your mother there to remind you of all of the poor eating choices you could make in the cafeteria, it can be easy to go a little crazy. When I ate in my dorm’s cafeteria, I always tried to remember, even though it was hard, that just because the food is there doesn’t mean I have to eat it. Sure, there’s pizza, but there’s also a salad bar.

7. Find Exercise You Love

After you’ve graduated from your favorite athletic program, it can be hard to find an exercise you love just as much. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe you can find a club for your favorite exercise on your campus, or maybe you’ll discover an exercise you love even more.

What are your tips for keeping off the Freshman 15? Leave your favorite suggestions in the comments for the college freshmen ou